So I know I haven't been very active these past few weeks. I've got a few articles in the works, but they're still far from publishing. However, I have created a tumblr as the companion to my main blog! You can follow me there and get all of the updates from my blogspot blog as well as some extra tidbits! Sitting by the Koi Pond comes to Tumblr

So I finally got around to finishing one of those articles I've been working on. Since I've been doing a lot of writing about goldfish recently I decided to focus on betta for a week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Izzy @ Sitting by the Koi Pond

As anyone who has keep betta for a long period of time knows, they are apt to change colors. What you see in the cold cup in the store is never what you will see after a few days of warm, clean water in your tank. For this reason, betta bought in pet stores are often gambles. You can buy a pretty white one in the store and it will turn a peachy-yellow in a few days. There are three reasons why betta change colors: stress, age, and genetics.

I know there are a lot of similarities between these two fish, but getting them mixed up is one of my largest pet peeves. Maybe this is because Iíve kept both species of fish for many years. Maybe it's because I dislike people who don't bother to think about what they are seeing. Either way, I would like to point out the major differences between koi (Cyprinus carpio) and goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus).

I wanted to do something different, so I did a review of some "sustainable" fishkeeping gadgets that seem to keep popping up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Izzy @ Sitting by the Koi Pond

Aquaponics is a type of sustainable agriculture that combines traditional aquaculture of fish with hydroponically grown plants (plants grown with roots submerged in water). The fish are grown in large holding tanks, and the waste they produce is pumped to the plants in the hydroponic systems. The plants use the nutrients and send the "clean" water back to the fish. That is the general idea behind aquaponics, but there are a few variations. Recently, I have seen a few products come on the market aimed at home aquaponics systems. Some are good, and some are bad. This is one of the bad ones I recently stumbled upon.

Today I got around to posting an update on my tanks. This will be the last one for the year because we're taking a vacation at Christmas. I'll stock the 29 gal when we get home, but today I added some new plants to it!! Read more and see pictures here!

Last post of year!! I didn't get my Christmas article out in time. Oh well. I'll do it next year. But for right now, read about some other ideas for that small fish tank once your betta has been upgraded! Because the best way to prevent yourself from impulse buys is to fill all your spare tanks!